Making Job Search Easier by Finding the Great Companies First

Marketers make note! Pinterest recently unveiled that it will be launching “buyable pins” later this month, here’s how it works: Rich Pins are pins which have much more information than a normal link, for instance a step by step infographic on oven cleaning will get a new button that allows users to purchase ovens directly from retail partners like Macy’s, Nordstroms and so on in order to stock Pinterest with millions of products. Users will see prices, be able to select specific types of a product, and then they can tap the button to buy the product. Which is then shipped directly to you. Pinterest is using Shopify (jobs at Shopify) and Demandware (jobs at Demandware) right out of the gate with Stripe handling its payments, and collaborating with companies like Braintree and Apple to “make sure Pinterest never touches credit card information.” They claim there isn’t any fee for buyers and merchants which they says will include working with tens of thousands of local brands. Buyable Pins show up in all of Pinterest’s features, like recommendations and search. Users can pay with a credit card or with Apple Pay. It appears that this is just a tip of the Iceberg…

After wowing donors at Kickstarter last year to such an extent that it went away with over $10 million in investment, Pebble has finally started shipping its smart wristwatch, which has been hitting doorsteps for a few weeks now. E-commerce managers and e-commerce analysts wanting to know more about expectation management could learn a lot from Pebble. After promising shipments would begin last fall, a huge order backlog ensured and it took considerably longer to get the ball rolling. But it’s been extraordinarily deft at keeping its pre-order customers regularly and fully informed via stories, videos and photos. Mass production The first recipients, of course, have been the startup’s Kickstarter backers, but with mass production now in full momentum with 15,000 being manufactured every week, everyone else who pre-ordered will soon have theirs if it hasn’t already arrived. The watch, which connects to the iPhone and to Android devices, is modestly handsome as opposed to riotously gorgeous, but that crisp, customizable, black-and-white e-paper display is a real winner, remaining highly readable even in sunlight. E-commerce analysts keen to spot the next big thing might do well to follow the Pebble’s fortunes. It not only displays incoming caller IDs, Facebook messages,…

He was one of the lucky few; one of the founding fathers of Apple, getting a job straight out of college through his roomie Mike Boich. Guy Kawasaki credits his Apple experience with many great things, but mostly for the chance to work for one of the world’s most exciting companies and carve out a career as one of the first true digital pioneers. If you want to make your mark and you’re on the lookout for media jobs, Kawasaki’s lead is one you might want to follow. Currently Kawasaki, who was born in Hawaii, is founder of Garage Technology Ventures and co-founder of Alltop.com, an online magazine rack giving users easy access to the web’s most popular topics, but he wasn’t always at the forefront of online innovation. From Honolulu to Silicon Valley Born in 1954 in one of the tougher neighbourhoods of Honolulu, Guy Kawasaki attended Iolani School, which he states gave him a ‘fantastic and formative education’. He has particularly fond memories of his English teacher who, he believes, would have been shocked to learn that he’s written 10 books. After graduating Iolani in 1972, Kawasaki made the journey to Stanford where he graduated with a major…

Ad targeting startup Adelphic Mobile looks set to enhance the world of mobile phones advertising dramatically after securing $10 million in Series A funding. Mobile advertising agencies face particular difficulties not shared by their more traditional internet ad relatives; it’s notoriously difficult to collect reliable consumer data from mobile devices, unlike web sites which allow brands to target particular users with relative ease. But Adelphic Mobile was created by former Quattro colleagues Jennifer Lum and Changfeng Weng in 2010 to address that very problem (Quattro was acquired by Apple recently and is now the tech giant’s iAd program). Why mobile advertising is a tough cookie Jennifer Lum summed up the difficulties posed by mobile advertising like this: “It’s hard for brands to find people. It’s hard to describe and package up the mobile industry to sell to audiences.” There have been a number of new mobile targeting startups launching in recent times, including AdMobius. But what’s different about Adelphic? The new agency surmounts the difficulty of dropping cookies onto mobiles (collect far fewer of these little data packets than desktop devices) by using 30 different ‘signals’ to monitor online patterns exhibited by smartphone users. Although Lum wasn’t letting any secrets…

Former Apple mobile executive Andy Miller has jumped ship and landed on a Facebook page that’s dedicated to all things Manga, Anime and Japanese Pop Culture, to steer it towards web and app success. Miller, who’s currently firmly ensconced in the boardroom of Leap Mobile, has joined Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM) in order to help the start-up turn its 6.7 million Facebook likers into website and app lovers using the skills he honed during his time with Apple. After founding mobile ad network Quattro Wireless, Miller became VP of mobile advertising for iAD following Quattro’s take over by Apple. He’s now on board at TOM as an advisor. But why does he want to help this Facebook phenomenon? “I am happy to support the development of TOM’s community of manga and anime fans from around the world,” he said. “The passion of the anime and manga community, and the thirst for content and a place to share has led to the explosive growth of TOM. I am excited to help this community connect across web, smart phones and their tablet devices.” Keeping it in the Family Also, according to TOM’s own Nao Kodaka, Miller’s son is an Otaku (the name…